{"id":2236,"date":"2018-02-16T08:59:26","date_gmt":"2018-02-16T14:59:26","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/garyborders.com\/pages\/?p=2236"},"modified":"2018-02-16T08:59:26","modified_gmt":"2018-02-16T14:59:26","slug":"celebrating-a-decade-together","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/garyborders.com\/pages\/celebrating-a-decade-together\/","title":{"rendered":"Celebrating a Decade Together"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"wpf_wrapper\"><a class=\"print_link\" href=\"\" target=\"_blank\">Print this entry<\/a><\/p><!-- .wpf_wrapper --><p>We met a decade ago this month. I had just moved to Longview to become the publisher of the Longview <em>News-Journal<\/em>, where I began my newspaper career as a paperboy in 1968. I wrote a column about unpacking a treasure trove of books, which surround me now in this office. My Beautiful Mystery Companion-to-be had just celebrated a milestone birthday. She emailed and asked if we could have coffee and get acquainted, as long as I was not married. I wasn\u2019t, so I used Google to figure out she was a college professor<a href=\"http:\/\/garyborders.com\/pages\/celebrating-a-decade-together\/us-in-edgartown\/\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-2237\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignleft size-medium wp-image-2237\" src=\"https:\/\/garyborders.com\/pages\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/02\/Us-in-Edgartown-239x300.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"239\" height=\"300\" srcset=\"https:\/\/garyborders.com\/pages\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/02\/Us-in-Edgartown-239x300.jpg 239w, https:\/\/garyborders.com\/pages\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/02\/Us-in-Edgartown-600x754.jpg 600w, https:\/\/garyborders.com\/pages\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/02\/Us-in-Edgartown-768x966.jpg 768w, https:\/\/garyborders.com\/pages\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/02\/Us-in-Edgartown-814x1024.jpg 814w, https:\/\/garyborders.com\/pages\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/02\/Us-in-Edgartown-680x855.jpg 680w, https:\/\/garyborders.com\/pages\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/02\/Us-in-Edgartown.jpg 1193w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 239px) 100vw, 239px\" \/><\/a> and had a daughter. Maybe I will make a new friend, I thought. So did she.<\/p>\n<p>A few days later I walked up the alley from the paper to the coffee shop in what was then called the Weaver Building. She crossed the alley just as I got to the sidewalk, and that was that. We have been together since, ten years of joy and tragedy, sickness and health. In June, we\u2019ll celebrate our seventh wedding anniversary. As always, I consider myself a lucky man that she \u201cpicked me,\u201d as she likes to say.<\/p>\n<p>Here are a few of the many things I love about my BMC, aside from the fact she puts up with me, no easy task:.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>She loves critters. I realize that is not unusual, but Julie <em>really<\/em> loves God\u2019s creatures \u2014 dogs, cats, birds, donkeys, chickens, and cows. She is not fond of snakes, rats or mosquitoes, but that is understandable. She is happiest when Tater and Tot, our two cats, are curled up in her lap, and the dogs, Sam and Rosie, are at her feet. Our plan is to put the house up for sale once this dreary winter is gone and the azaleas are blooming, and find a place in the country \u2014 not too far out \u2014 where we can add other critters to the menagerie. Chickens, of course, a donkey or two, possibly a gentle Longhorn steer.<\/li>\n<li>She is truly one of the most selfless people I have ever known, constantly thinking of other people, sending thank-you notes, words of encouragement, keeping up with former students to see how they\u2019re faring in the professional realm. I am sure she will vehemently disagree with this view of her, but it\u2019s true. I have been taking note for 10 years, after all.<\/li>\n<li>My BMC trains students to become teachers and directs the student-teacher program at LeTourneau University. She is constantly working to provide unique experiences for her students, forging partnerships within the community. I have met a number of her students over the years in different contexts, and they invariably sing her praises. Again, she might object to being bragged about, but it\u2019s a fact. As someone who taught college courses off-and-on for more than a decade, I know a top-notch teacher when I see one. And I know how many hours she puts in at home preparing for classes.<\/li>\n<li>We share the same preferences in many areas, such as cuisine, house styles, politics and where to spend vacations, to name a few. Normally we watch television series together, everything from \u201cDowton Abbey\u201d to \u201cHell on Wheels.\u201d However, my BMC has been on a Spanish subtitle kick lately, watching melodramas with subtitles. I tried, but ended up watching the last of \u201cJustified\u201d on the other television. Now I\u2019m deep into \u201cThe Americans,\u201d about Russian spies posing as middle-class Americans living in Washington, D.C. I\u2019m sure we\u2019ll find a common series soon.<\/li>\n<li>She is a deep thinker who still loves to learn and always wants to ask questions. I often tell folks she is far more intelligent than I am. Physically, she is tough despite facing health challenges that would lay many folks low. My BMC just keeps plugging away and says Teddy Roosevelt is her role model. One can do worse for a role model, when it comes to perseverance.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>There is a Jason Isbell song that has been stuck in my head for days, especially the chorus:<\/p>\n<p><em>It\u2019s knowing that this can\u2019t go on forever<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>Likely one of us will have to spend some days alone<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>Maybe we\u2019ll get forty years together<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>But one day I\u2019ll be one<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>Or one day you\u2019ll be gone<\/em><\/p>\n<p>Maybe we will get 40 years together. Maybe not. Either way, I plan to enjoy every day that we share. Thanks and love, Julie.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wpf_wrapper\"><a class=\"print_link\" href=\"\" target=\"_blank\">Print this entry<\/a><\/p><!-- .wpf_wrapper -->","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Print this entryWe met a decade ago this month. I had just moved to Longview to become the publisher of the Longview News-Journal, where I began my newspaper career as [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_active":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_note":"","_exactmetrics_sitenote_category":0,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[55,38],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2236","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-55","category-columns"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/garyborders.com\/pages\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2236","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/garyborders.com\/pages\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/garyborders.com\/pages\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/garyborders.com\/pages\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/garyborders.com\/pages\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2236"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/garyborders.com\/pages\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2236\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2239,"href":"https:\/\/garyborders.com\/pages\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2236\/revisions\/2239"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/garyborders.com\/pages\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2236"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/garyborders.com\/pages\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2236"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/garyborders.com\/pages\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2236"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}